Baltimore Orioles Add Two Prospects to MLB Roster Ahead of Rule 5 Draft

The Baltimore Orioles have one spot remaining on their 40-man Major League roster after their latest moves.

Aug 22, 2021; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; A Baltimore Orioles logo is seen on an umbrella during the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have some major decisions to make with their roster this offseason. Ace starting pitcher Corbin Burnes and right fielder Anthony Santander are both hitting the open market as free agents.

Both are intent on testing the market and turned down the qualifying offers they received from Baltimore. It doesn't rule out their return. But now the Orioles get draft compensation if they sign elsewhere.

The team would love to bring both of them back, but before turning their focus to free agency, they had some work to do with their 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 Draft.

The Orioles had several players who are on their top 30 prospect pipeline list. Two of them, right-handed pitcher Brandon Young and right-handed pitcher Kade Strowd, were added to the 40-man roster before the 6 p.m. eastern deadline, protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft pool.

With those two players added, Baltimore now has 39 out of 40 roster spots filled, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com.

#Orioles announce they're adding the following players to 40-man roster, protecting them from Rule 5 Draft:

-RHP Brandon Young (club's No. 19 prospect per @MLBPipeline)

-RHP Kade Strowd

The 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) November 19, 2024

It was an relatively easy decision to protect Young, the team’s No. 19 overall rated prospect, who won the team’s Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award for the 2024 season. He had a 3.57 ERA across 111 innings with 132 strikeouts between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk.

Strowd, a 12th-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, started the season on fire in Bowie, as he didn’t allow a single run over nine appearances and 10.1 innings with 11 strikeouts. That earned him a promotion to Norfolk.

Alas, his production fell off after moving up. He pitched 41 innings across 37 appearances and was hit hard, recording a 6.80 ERA. But, he retained his ability to strike out hitters, finishing with 60 punchouts.

Despite having one roster spot remaining open, the Orioles are leaving two of their Top 30 prospects unprotected heading into the Rule 5 Draft.

No. 8, right-handed pitcher Juan Nunez and right-handed pitcher Alex Pham, who is No. 25, could both get selected by other teams when the draft is held on Dec. 11 in Dallas during the Winter Meetings. Rill also shared this update.

Just because the Orioles left them unprotected does not mean they'll be selected. If the other 29 teams pass on them, they'll remain part of Baltimore's system.